Top Dawg Entertainment

His sons, Anthony "Moosa" Tiffith Jr and Brandon Tiffith, serve as the label's president and chief marketing officer, respectively. Terrence "Punch" Henderson also serves as a label president. TDE concentrates on artist management, publishing and merchandising, and has worked with the "Big Three" record companies (Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment) for distribution ventures. The label also oversees subsidiaries such as TDE Films and their sports agency. The label is most notable for being the label that represented Kendrick Lamar, who was signed from 2005 to 2022, as he rose to stardom. There are currently twelve artists signed to TDE; its flagship artists include SZA, Doechii, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, and ScHoolboy Q. Anthony "Moosa" and Brandon Tiffith were accused of sexual harassment, assault, negligence and doxxing by former female employees who filed a civil suit against them in July 2025.

• Bgcolor — #000000 • Founder — Anthony Tiffith • Genre — * Hip hop • R&B • alternative • Distributor — * Universal Music Group • Warner Music Group • Sony Music Entertainment • Country — United States • Location — Carson, California, U.S. • Website — txdxe.com/

Top Dawg Entertainment was founded in 2004 by Anthony Tiffith, a record producer who previously worked with rappers The Game and Juvenile, among others. After his uncle found success as a manager for singer Rome, whose single "I Belong to You (Every Time I See Your Face)" was a major hit, Tiffith began scouting local talent as an escape from the street life of his Watts neighborhood. He built a recording studio, dubbed it "House of Pain", and established the record label based on his nickname, Top Dawg. TDE's first signing was Jay Rock, who joined the label in 2005. Two weeks after his acquisition, Kendrick Lamar was signed to the label. In 2007, TDE signed Ab-Soul, while rapper Terrence "Punch" Henderson and record producer Dave Free assumed the role as presidents of the label. Jay Rock signed joint venture contracts with Warner Bros. Records and Asylum Records, but left after the labels failed to properly distribute his debut album Follow Me Home (2011).

The label released their first compilation mixtape, Do It Nigga Squad, Volume 1, in May 2008, which featured appearances from Lil Wayne and will.i.am. ScHoolboy Q, who had been affiliated with the label since 2006, signed with TDE in 2009. Before signing, the four rappers created the hip hop supergroup Black Hippy. In March 2012, The Fader reported that TDE closed a joint venture deal with Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. Under the agreement, Lamar signed to Aftermath and Interscope, while ScHoolboy Q joined Interscope. TDE partnered with BET for their Music Matters Tour in July, and held its first "appreciation week" for their fans in August. Lamar's second studio album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, was released in October 2012 and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart and earned the highest first-week sales of the year by a male rapper. It later became the first hip hop studio album to spend ten consecutive years on the Billboard 200. On August 15, 2013, singer-songwriter SZA signed with TDE, becoming the first female artist to join the label. The label announced the signing of rapper Isaiah Rashad on September 20, after publications reported on his acquisition in June. Lamar, Jay Rock, ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and Rashad were featured in a TDE cypher at the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards.

At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards (January 2014), Good Kid, M.A.A.D City earned seven nominations, including for Best Rap Album and Album of the Year. Tiffith announced that TDE would be releasing six projects in 2014, beginning with Rashad's debut album Cilvia Demo. ScHoolboy Q released his third album Oxymoron on February 25, while SZA released her third extended play Z on April 8. Oxymoron earned the biggest first-week streams of 2014 on Spotify (3.3 million). Ab-Soul released his third album, These Days..., on June 24. To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), Lamar's third album, became TDE's first project to debut atop the Billboard 200 and set Spotify's global first-day streaming record (9.6 million). It won five awards at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album. TDE previewed releases from the roster on February 29, 2016, and hinted at signing new artists. Singer and rapper Lance Skiiiwalker signed to the label on May 20, and released his debut album Introverted Intuition on October 18. On January 19, 2017, TDE announced the signing of singer SiR. Lamar's fourth album, Damn, spent four nonconsecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200 and yielded TDE's first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, "Humble". SZA signed a joint recording contract with RCA Records on April 28, and her debut studio album, Ctrl, debuted at number three on the Billboard 200.

TDE has held their annual Christmas concert and toy drive in Nickerson Gardens since 2014. The concerts featured performances by the roster, and included guest appearances from Rihanna, E-40, and Chris Brown. In February 2018, the label and Interscope Records purchased five screenings of Black Panther in three theaters to allow 1,000 children from three Watts public housing complexes to view the film for free. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tiffith paid the rent of over 300 families in Los Angeles' public housing developments.

TDE established a sports division agency in January 2018, led by agent Faddie Mikhail. American football player Derrius Guice became the first athlete to sign with the agency.

• Act — Year signed — Releases under the label — Other labels • Punch — 2004 — — • Jay Rock — 2005 — 13 — Interscope • Ab-Soul — 2007 — 7 • ScHoolboy Q — 2009 — 6 — Interscope • SZA — 2013 — 3 — RCA • Isaiah Rashad — 4 — Warner • Lance Skiiiwalker — 2016 — 4 — Rocketeer • SiR — 2017 — 4 — RCA • Zacari — 2019 — 2 • Ray Vaughn — 2020 — 2 — RCA • Kal Banx — 2021 — 2 • Doechii — 2022 — 2 — Capitol • Devin Malik — 2024 — 1 — BMR • Alemeda — 2 — Warner • iAMLYRIC — 2025 — — — RCA • Trap Dickey — 2026 — 1 — 11 Music Group • Yakiyn — — — Capitol • A Room Full of Mirrors — 2026 — 1 — RCA

• Act — Years on the label — Releases under the label • Kendrick Lamar — 2005–2022 — 12 • Black Hippy — 2008–2022 — — • | Reason — 2018–2024 — 4

• Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith • Willie B • Kal Banx • Devin Malik

• Dave Free • Sounwave